


Curiosity

by softkent (SalazarTipton)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, One Shot, Play Fighting, and puts up with his shit, jeff teaches kent how to change a tire, plus the clean up after ;)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 01:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12223149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalazarTipton/pseuds/softkent
Summary: Kent's damn curiosity is going to kill Jeff one of these days. Thankfully, today his heart feels like it stops in his chest for another reason.





	Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this quick in between writing my big bang and didn't really read through. If you see any issues, feel free to tell me in a comment. Hope you enjoy!

Jeff’s been looking for the tire iron far longer than Kent’s patience can handle, but they can’t go onto the next step without it. He already berated him for not having one in his car.  _ What if this happened when you were out on the road? You’ve have had no way of fixing it. _

 

“It’s not my fault nobody ever taught me this crap!” Kent complains, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead to get rid of the sweat that keeps dripping in his eyes. “Why do I even need to? I can just pay someone else to change my tires for me.”

 

Swoops shakes his head, but doesn’t look up from his tool box. 

 

“You have access to the entire internet. You have no excuse for not learning how to do this by yourself,” Swoops reminds him yet again. He tries to remind Parser that he’s an adult who can learn things all on his own almost monthly now. He has still yet to see him do it for anything unrelated to Kit. 

 

“Is this that thing you need?” 

 

He picks his head up to see whatever Parse is talking about. Jeff’s suspicions that Kent really has no idea what it is he’s looking for are confirmed. Instead of holding up a tire iron like he’s hoping, Parse somehow found his blowtorch. 

 

“No, no, no. Put that down!” 

 

Jeff’s often asks himself why Kent has the same level of curiosity as a five year old, and then asks himself why he puts up with it. The answer usually gets lost in Kent’s eyes or sincerity in his questions or his laugh. These days together always end in Swoops sure the next time will kill him, though it has yet to happen after spending nearly every day of the season with Parser for the past five years. 

 

“Why?” Kent asks, flipping it upside down to look it over. “What’s it do?” 

 

“Parse!” Swoops jolts up and grabs it out of his hands. “Can’t you listen like once? It’s a blowtorch--not something to help with your flat. I don’t need you setting my garage on fire.”

 

“You set one pan on fire and nobody ever let you live it down,” Parse sighs and sits back on the concrete beside his destroyed tire. 

 

It takes the entire afternoon, but Jeff manages to keep Kent’s attention long enough to show him how to loosen the lug nuts, take off the hub cap,  jack up his car (with him worrying about his paint being chipped), take off the tire, and get the new one back on. When Swoops handed him the pressure gauge, Parse has no clue what to do.

 

“Are you telling me you have never seen one of those in your life?” Swoops asks, a little beyond himself.

 

“What? Is it like a weird tire pen or something?” 

 

Swoops would chirp him about being so incompetent at adult things that it hurts, but he looks so confused. He sighs and takes the pressure gauge back and kneels back down beside Parser. 

 

“So, you’ve never checked the air in your tires before…” Thankfully, Kent grasps this part a lot faster than all the steps of the tire change. 

 

It’s only about 83 degrees out today, but that doesn’t stop Kent from complaining about it. He does get Jeff to laugh when he suggests he gets AC put in the garage. 

 

Within fifteen minutes, they’re heading into Swoops’ air conditioned kitchen to take turns at the sink to wash off the grime. Parse thought it was ridiculous how dirty they could get just around his tires when he washes his car so often. Jeff still has a lot to teach him. 

 

Parse hip checks Swoops into a chair once they’re inside and races over to the sink first, his laugh relaxed and easy, like a kid sure he’s already won the race because he cheated at the starting line. 

 

“Don’t pick fights you can’t end, Parse!” Swoops laughs as he picks himself up out of the chair and half-runs over to the sink. 

 

Kent quickly pumps some soap into his hands and flicks on the faucet, sticking out his tongue at Swoops. Inside of squirting soap on it or something equally childish, his thoughts wander to much more adult ideas of what that tongue could be doing. 

 

“Who says I can’t end my own fights?” he says, lathering up his hands enough to form little piles of bubbles. 

 

He tries to blow them at Swoops instead of rising off, but Swoops grabs the detachable handle on the sink and sprays Parser lightly with the shower setting. 

 

Parser holds out one hand to fend off the water and tries to smear the other across Swoops face, but he grabs hold of it. Jeff continues spraying him while trying to wipe all the soap onto Kent’s tee shirt. By the time they call a truce, the floor, them, and the counter are all splattered with water and soap. When they see the damage they’ve done, the break down into giggles. 

 

“One way to clean up, eh?” Swoops says after his laughter dies down. 

 

Kent looks up and can feel Swoops breath across his damp forehead. His eyes flick from Jeff’s lips down to his adam’s apple, watching it bob as he swallows hard. Jeff’s sure that smirk on Kent’s lips will only lead to further mischief. 

 

In seconds, Swoops is backed up against the sink with Kent’s hands bracketing him as he leans in, lifting himself up on the balls of his feet to look him straight in the eye. When Kent’s eyes trail down his face and stop at his lips, he’s sure his own heart stops with them. Today’s going to kill Jeff. 

 

“Parse--” He’s cut off when a shot of cold water pours down the back of his shirt. 

 

He reaches back to work the faucet handle out of Kent’s hand all while he’s trying to keep some sort of distance so he won’t get even more wet. Jeff tries to snakes a foot around his ankle and force him into the chilly stream too, but loses his balance on the slippery tile. They share a moment of panic before sliding down to the floor, sink running above them, in a jumble of limbs. 

 

“This what you wanted when you wanted to cool off earlier?” Swoops laughs in Kent’s ear. 

 

He feels Kent swallow against his collarbone before lifting himself up enough to look at Jeff, faces a few inches apart with the rest of their bodies flush against each other. 

 

“I’d say things got a little hotter than earlier, but I ain’t complaining.”

 

This time when Swoops heart nearly stops because of Parse, he finally decides to act. With slow, gentle movements, he brings a hand up to cup Kent’s cheek and wipe away some sooty subs with his thumb. He wants to ask if this is okay, if he’s read Kent’s signals right or terribly wrong. He opens his mouth to clarify, but Kent’s lips carefully slotting together with his do a hell of a lot more than words ever could.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! <3  
> Feel free to come find me on tumblr: [softkent](http://softkent.tumblr.com/)  
> Should I start a series for my troyson drabbles/one-shots? 'Cause I have a lot more in store...


End file.
